Marketing Agency Insider : The Modern Marketing Agency is Less “Mad Men” & More Hybrid

Check out Andrew Angus’ guest post, originally written for The Marketing Agency, on the difference between a Tech company and an Ad Agency.

—————

The age of “Mad Men” is long gone, but the advertising industry’s classic sales methodology isn’t. In fact, a lot of creative agencies still generate new business the same way they did 60 years ago. It’s time to develop a more flexible, modern approach to finding new clients who will boost business without sacrificing innovation and creativity.

That’s exactly what hybrid companies do: take the tech-savvy principles of a Silicon Valley startup and apply them to a high-powered agency. This results in new clients with the big payoffs.

Different Schools of Thought

Technology companies and advertising agencies offer two very different kinds of services with two radically different pricing structures. Tech companies “productize” their services, meaning they offer a clear list of services, a set price and an estimated delivery timeline. Meanwhile, once an advertising agency is declared agency of record, it usually means years of service and millions of dollars, but it’s never quite clear until the bill arrives.

These two models stem from two different kinds of deals. Agencies come from a background of personal, one-on-one agreements, whereas tech companies come from a world of metrics, science and demand generation. Their business model focuses on closing lots of deals very quickly. It’s not about one big client; it’s about a lot of little ones. These are two different schools of thought with two very different business outcomes.

A hybrid company is a new breed of agency that cherry-picks the smartest strategies from both worlds, building a creative product and generating business like a tech company.